Masters Thesis Abstract: Einar Örn Hreinsson
Assimilation of snow cover area information into a model and evaluation of the effects with respect to measured runoff
Accurate knowledge of water content in seasonal snow can be helpful for water resource management, especially in areas where seasonal snow is the main contributor of water into the region.
In this study, a distributed temperature index snow model is used to estimate snow storage in the Jollie catchment, New Zealand. This model uses temperature and precipitation as forcing (i.e. input) data.
A way to improve the snow storage estimate is to use available remotely sensed snow fraction data for the Jollie catchment. As these data are temporally sparse, they can not be used as direct input into the model. Alternatively, they are merged into the model utilizing statistical methods, a procedure commonly known as data assimilation.
The main objective of this study is to apply a frequently used assimilation method, the ensemble Kalman square root filter, and evaluate the effects with respect to measured runoff.